This invention relates to upright carpet vacuum floor cleaners. Such cleaners typically have a base for engaging the floor and an upper filter bag housing. A filter bag is inserted into an open top of the housing, which is then closed by a cover. During operation, the filter bag has a negative pressure applied to its outer surface by a vacuum motor in the cleaner. This draws dirt laden air off the floor surface to the inside of the filter bag. The air flows through the filter bag exterior into the cleaner housing. The dirt is retained in the bag in well-known manner. It has been determined that air flow through the side walls of the filter bag in conventional cleaners has rather poor efficiency due to poor air flow characteristics. This is because the bag is drawn into engagement with the inner wall of the bag housing, thereby restricting air flow around its periphery. Another problem is that, once the bag is full of dirt, it is often difficult to remove it from the housing since it tends to frictionally cling to the housing wall.